Former Nigeria international Seyi Olofinjana has been handed a talent management role at Chelsea that will see him cover the African continent.
According to The Athletic, the 44-year-old will oversee recruitment recommendations across Africa and will work closely with a newly-appointed scout that will be responsible for fetching talent from the world’s youngest continent.
Olofinjana will tap into Chelsea’s rich connection with Africa and use that to help players settle down and integrate into their football system as well as that of affiliate club Strasbourg in France.
Chelsea has fielded a host of top African players over the past two decades such as Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou, Mikel John Obi, Victor Moses, Mohamed Salah, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koukibaly, Hakim Ziyech and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Since his retirement in 2014, Olofinjana has bagged his UEFA Pro coaching license and degrees in chemical engineering and sports management, and has set up Imperial FC, a football academy in Lagos that produced Nottingham Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi.
He has worked as an under-23 coach with Wolverhampton Wanderers and was Sporting Director at Grasshoppers Zurich in Switzerland.
Olofinjana’s playing career in 1998 in Nigeria with Crown FC of Ogbomoso and Kwara United of Ilorin before moving to Europe to play for Brann in Norway.
It was followed by nine-year spell in England that saw him play for Wolves, Stoke City, Hull City, Cardiff City and Sheffield City. He ended up his career in 2014 in Norway with IK Start.
Olofinjana played for the Super Eagles between 2000 and 2011, earning 48 caps and featured at the 2004, 2008 and 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
